Trump Orders Removal of Photo of Enslaved Man’s Scars and Information About Slavery from National Parks: Report

President Donald Trump is reportedly having his administration remove photographs related to slavery from national parks in the United States.

According to an article published by the Washington Post on Monday, Sept. 15, four anonymous sources said the removal orders are linked to Trump’s March 27 executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order directs the Interior Department “to eliminate information that reflects a ‘corrosive ideology’ that disparages historic Americans.”

One of the photos being considered for removal is “The Scourged Back,” taken in 1863, showing the scarred back of escaped enslaved man Gordon.

“This is fake news. No decisions have been made on this exhibit – it is under review to ensure compliance with the Executive Order,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told PEOPLE.

According to the Met Museum, the marks on Gordon’s back are “severe whipping scars” and the photo is “perhaps the most famous of all known Civil War–era portraits of slaves.”

“Interpretive materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures, without acknowledging broader context or national progress, can unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it,” National Park Service spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said in a statement.

The Washington Post added that officials with the National Park Service are using Trump’s orders to review information on racism, sexism, slavery, gay rights, and the persecution of Indigenous people.

“This represents an enormous increase in federal power and control over the things we learn,” Jonathan Zimmerman, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies the history of education, told the Post. “Brought to you by the team that says education should be state and local.”

The images under review reportedly “include signs referring to racial discrimination and the hostility of White people,” the Post said, citing a source familiar with the matter and documents it reviewed.

Last month, Trump criticized the Smithsonian Museums, calling them “out of control” and too “woke” for sharing images of slavery.

“The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE,'” he wrote in an Aug. 19 Truth Social post. “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”

“We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made,” Trump continued.

He concluded by declaring that America “cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE.”

Trump’s March 27 order also directs Vice President J.D. Vance, in his role as a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents, to remove “divisive, race-centered ideology” from Smithsonian museums, research centers, and the National Zoo.